First, as the Tribune reported last week, NBC affiliate KBGF finally went digital eight days ago over the air, and network programs are broadcast in high-definition. Unfortunately, I tried watching "Saturday Night Live" Saturday night on Channel 50.19 on my TV set, and the signal had disappeared after a rainstorm moved in.

I couldn't watch NBC on cable, either, as Charter appeared to be in the process of trying to provide the better picture on Channel 6, but there was no program at all Saturday night, just a frozen picture. I could have watched SNL on the old, fuzzy analog picture using an antenna, but I didn't bother. Presumably, these initial bugs will get worked out.

Anyway, in the coming weeks, satellite services and Charter should be able to offer a spiffy NBC picture reliably available to watch to northcentral Montana viewers.

Second, Charter Communications in Great Falls has set Nov. 24 as the day its system goes all-digital, eliminating all analog stations. KBGF used to be analog before its Oct. 26 upgrade; it will be high-definition on the Charter system on Channel 506.

One wrinkle to the Charter move is subscribers used to be able to hook a cable line to a TV set and still get plenty of channels. The changeover, though, means every TV in the house will require a cable box that normally costs $6.99 per month to tune in any cable channels. In a house with four TVs hooked up to cable, that would cost almost $28 per month extra.

However, Charter says it will provide each household with a free cable box for one year, and will waive the $6.99 monthly charge for one box. I called Charter about this, and the representative said Charter will mail me the free box at no charge. If I decided to get boxes for all four TVs in my house connected to cable, I could pick up more boxes at the Charter office in Great Falls. The monthly rental fee would apply to extra boxes.

I was told it will be a good idea to order the free cable box in the next two weeks; it's possible there will be long lines at Charter offices in the region as the Nov. 24 deadline nears.

More information is available from a mailer Charter sent out to customers last week. It says "important" on the outside of the envelope, and it has channel information and more. If you threw yours away already, we'll post the first two pages of the mailer alongside the online version of this column, at www.greatfallstribune.com under local news.

Charter customers will all be shifted to Charter packages of channels from Bresnan or Optimum packages, but Charter will work to keep the costs level for the similar service, or offer discounts for certain upgrades, the representative told me. It's possible this will get a bit confusing for some folks. An investor relations spokesman for Charter could not be reached last week.

Charter is presenting this move as an improvement; we'll see how it all works out.

Charter changes, page 2.(Photo: Courtesy)

Rising costs

It's not easy trying to remember all the cable TV companies that have provided pay-TV in Great Falls over the years.

Sure, the one that's in the Electric City now is Charter Communications. Before that were Optimum and Bresnan.

I remember AT&T once offered cable service here. There was also an outfit called TCI Cable in 1987. I know that because we paid our cable bill to TCI on Oct. 1, 1987. The cost was $17.75 per month. (I was going through some old boxes and came across this stuff.) Editor's note: $17.75 in 1987 is equivalent to $37.19 in 2014 dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Most of our other utility bills have just doubled since 1987, but cable TV now costs more than five times as much as it did back then, at more than $90 a month today.

So, not only has Great Falls seen a lot of cable provider names, it has seen a real escalation in price. There is competition now that there wasn't then, from DISH and DirecTV satellite services, but ignoring the cheap introductory prices, you still end up with a big bill at the end of the discount period. And who wants to switch every year or two?

We'll explore the issue of the costs of pay-TV in a future column.

Cutting the cord

Some TV buffs are going a cheaper pay-TV route with online providers such as Netflix and Hulu.

Mike Lewis of Great Falls and his wife dropped cable seven years ago. The Lewises bought a Roku box for about $100 to send program to their TV set, and they now subscribe to several pay services for about $25 per month: Netflix streaming services for $7.95 a month, Warner Bros. for about $8 a month and Amazon streaming for $8.25 a month.

The Lewises also get some sports such as wrestling, CBS Sports and others. Some sports programs would cost extra if they were interested, but they aren't.

Lewis conceded he doesn't "watch sports that much," which is one big advantage of cable and satellite services.

All is all, the Lewises pay for TV a little more than $50 a month, "which I think is reasonable for what I get," Lewis said. "In total, I think it's a good deal. I may be 66 years of age, but I know my technology pretty well."

Lewis agreed that for people who want to keep things simple, cable TV is a good option.

Richard Ecke writes a weekly column on city life. Reach him at recke@greatfallstrib­une.com, or call him at 406-791-1465.